Local Sports

Records fall as Wildcats open playoffs with blowout win

WATERFORD -- In addition to being a solid football team in every facet of the game, make no mistake about it, the Waterford Wildcats can be a very physical squad.

That physicality set the tone early on Friday night as the Wildcats opened up Division VI, Region 23 playoff action at home with a dominating 61-0 win over the Berne Union Rockets.

Berne Union got the football first and picked up a first down on a 24-yard pass from quarterback Carson Kiger to receiver James Hocking.

Three plays later, the Rockets found themselves facing a fourth-and-4 at the Waterford 33-yard line when Kiger fired a pass once again to Hocking.

Hocking had the ball in his hands, but a jarring blow delivered by Waterford senior safety Finn Pennock popped the ball loose. It fell incomplete, forcing Berne Union to turn the ball over to the Wildcats on downs.

That play seemed to set the stage for what was to come as Berne Union would pick up just one more first down the entire game and never again moved the football into Waterford territory.

"I thought Finn Pennock had the hit of the game ... They were driving and their best player came across the middle and he gave him a really good clean shot and I thought that kind of set the tone right there," said Waterford head coach Eric McCutcheon. "It was just 'game on' after that and you could sense that our kids wanted it a little bit more."

The Wildcats took over possession and immediately went into a no-huddle offense that seemed to catch the Rocket defense by surprise.

Waterford ran five plays out of the no-huddle, all running plays, capped by an 18-yard touchdown run by senior Hayden Jones.

The Waterford defense had allowed just six points in their last five games combined and they stopped Berne Union on their next drive on three plays forcing them to punt.

Waterford quickly responded with a six-play, 50-yard drive sparked by a 32-yard shovel pass from senior quarterback Avery Pottmeyer to Pennock and capped by Jones’ second touchdown run of the quarter.

The touchdown run by Jones was a 3-yard TD. Those three yards allowed him to pass Braden Bellville as the all-time leading rusher in Waterford history.

Jones also gave his team a lift on the defensive end when he intercepted a pass on the Rockets' next possession, giving the Wildcats the ball at the Rocket 14-yard line.

Two plays later, Jones added his third rushing touchdown of the quarter to increase the Wildcat lead to 20-0.

The Wildcats were at it again early in the second quarter when Pottmeyer's 9-yard run increased the lead to 27-0 with 10 minutes left in the half.

Berne Union would not gain another first down the rest of the half and before it was over the Wildcats got touchdown runs from Devin Pottmeyer and Ryder Wolfe to open up a 40-0 lead and set the stage for a running clock in the second half.

Jones picked up his fourth touchdown of the game with an 11-yard run on the Wildcats' first possession of the second half and Waterford got touchdown runs later on in the half from Wolfe and sophomore Phallyn Hutchins to cap the scoring.

The Wildcats defense secured its seventh shutout of the season and limited Berne Union to just 54 total yards including a negative-12 yards on the ground.

Waterford lineman Dylan McCutcheon has been one of the leaders on the record-setting Wildcat defense for the past four seasons.

"We put all the effort into it all week and it shows when you look at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter," said McCutcheon, who has started all four seasons. "It's amazing how well we came together from week one to week 11."

Jones finished the final home game of his outstanding career at Waterford by picking up 147 yards on 14 carries in the game. Last week he went over the century mark in rushing yards for the third time before replacing Bellville as the all-time rushing leader in school history.

"We knew we had to take the playoffs one game at a time and not look ahead at any teams," said Jones, whose new rushing record sits at 4,475 yards "We just needed to get this job done and then roll onto next week."

Jones was quick to give credit to his teammates for allowing him to break the record.

"It's pretty amazing to accomplish something like that but I couldn't have done it without my teammates," said Jones. "My linemen, my receivers, my quarterback ... it's just an ultimate team game and they helped me do it."

Wolfe added 74 yards on just three carries while Avery Pottmeyer picked up 35 yards on six carries. The Wildcats rushed for 379 yards in the game and accumulated 448 total yards.

While Jones was added to the Wildcat record books, ironically his own name will have to be removed. That's because Avery Pottmeyer broke his single-season passing yard record with a 41-yard completion to Gavin Hiener early in the second half.

Jones spent the first part of his Wildcat career at quarterback before shifting to running back due to the development of Pottmeyer behind center.

"He's been such a great player and he's been a dude for a long time," said Pottmeyer of Jones, who set the record as a freshman. "We trust him to get the yards when we need him to and he always comes through."

Pottmeyer's season passing yard total stands at 1,499 and he will look to add to that total next week.

"It's not really an individual stat, it’s just everybody putting it together," said Pottmeyer. "The line working, the receivers catching the ball, the coaches calling the plays -- it's just a whole team thing."

Coach McCutcheon was quite pleased with his team's performance and hopes it will continue next week when they hit the road and take on No. 3-seeded West Jefferson for a chance to move on to the regional semifinal.

"The kids are playing so hard for each other, playing hard for their coaches and playing hard for their community," said Coach McCutcheon. "They want to make a difference and they want to set some records that have never been done here at Waterford."

The Wildcats have seen their season come to an end the past two seasons in the second week of the playoffs, a streak they would like to break this year with a win against West Jefferson.

"West Jefferson is a solid football program," said Coach McCutcheon. "They have been around ... so we are looking forward to getting on that bus and game planning for the week and see what we can do with them."

Division VI, Region 23 Playoffs

at Waterford Elementary School

#6 Waterford 61, #11 Berne Union 0

BU (7-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0

WHS (9-2) 20 20 14 7 - 61

W: Hayden Jones 19 run (Cale Harris kick) 6:04, 1st

W: Jones 2 run (kick no good) 2:15, 1st

W: Jones 1 run (Harris kick) 1:42, 1st

W: Avery Pottmeyer 9 run (Harris kick) 10:24, 2nd

W: Devin Pottmeyer 6 run (Harris kick) 5:41, 2nd

W: Ryder Wolfe 21 run (kick no good) :51:5, 2nd

W: Jones 11 run (Harris kick) 9:38, 3rd

W: Wolfe 25 run (Harris kick) 1:31, 3rd

W: Phallyn Hutchins 1 run (Harris kick) 1:35, 4th

Team Stats

Berne Union: First downs: 2, Rushes-yards: 20-(-12), Passing yards: 66, Total yards: 54, Passing: 6-11-1, Penalties-yards: 1-5, Punts-avg: 5-33.4, Fumbles-lost: 1-0.

Waterford: First downs: 21, Rushes-yards: 40-379, Passing yards: 69, Total yards: 448, Passing: 4-6-0, Penalties-yards: 3-25, Punts: 0, Fumbles-lost: 1-0.

Individual Stats

Berne Union: Rushing: Ashton Orourke 7-6, James Hocking 7-6, Carson Kiger 5-(-22), Passing: Kiger 5-9-1, 56 yards, Orourke 1-2-0, 10 yards, Receiving: Hocking 3-54, Orourke 2-12, Dillan Cornell 1-0.

Waterford: Rushing: Hayden Jones 14-147 (4TD's), Ryder Wolfe 3-74 (2 TD's), Avery Pottmeyer 6-35, (TD), Kameron Johnson (2-33), Brayden Smith 1-25, Phallyn Hutchins 6-21 (TD) Devin Pottmeyer 4-31 (TD), Trace Harmon 3-12, Cale Harris 1-1. Receiving: Gavin Hiener 1-41, Finn Pennock 1-32, Jones 1-0, Johnson 1-(-4).

Next Game: Division VI, Region 23 Quarter-Final: #6 Waterford at #3 West Jefferson.